Care managers' experiences in a collaborative care program for high risk mothers with depression

Area of Science:

• Integrated behavioral health
• Maternal mental health
• Care management

Background:

• Depression in mothers significantly impacts families and requires effective management within integrated care settings.
• Understanding care managers' perspectives is vital for optimizing service delivery in behavioral health programs.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore care managers' experiences with depressed mothers in an integrated behavioral health program.
• To identify facilitators and barriers to improving depression outcomes for this population.

Main Methods:

• A qualitative focus group interview was conducted with six care managers.
• Participants were from a safety net program serving low-income mothers with behavioral health needs.
• Thematic analysis was used to interpret care managers' experiences.

Main Results:

• Key assets for improving depression outcomes included strong patient-provider engagement and effective care coordination.
• Significant barriers involved patient engagement difficulties, multiple patient stressors, insufficient psychiatric support, and challenges accessing external resources.

Conclusions:

• Care managers highlighted modifiable factors like engagement levels, motivational interviewing, and enhanced psychiatric support for depression care.
• Findings suggest implications for refining care management training and psychiatric consultation models.